6th Annual ATYP Awards

This will be the sixth time that I've given out my personal awards for the past complete television season (eligibility period: June 1st, 2011–May 31st, 2012). I have numerous awards to cover, so please stick with them until the end if you choose to do so, as they will be revealed on a rolling basis over an extended period of time. Category placements are at my discretion like they would be for any personal awards. I'm including past winners alongside the current winners and offering selected commentary on the nominees, winners, and/or honorable mentions. I might include some pictures and/or links where appropriate. I can’t do fancy banners or anything, but I’ll try to experiment with some things now that I can. Most of the category fields were very rich and deep this season, and some wins were contested ones. Other fields were very sparse, and a few categories are not given this year because of that. I’ll explain those when I get to them. I hope that you all enjoy these awards. I'll begin presenting the first round of awards soon.

2011–2010: “Game of Thrones” (HBO); 2010–2009: “The Pacific” (HBO); 2009–2008: “True Blood” (HBO); 2008–2007: “Breaking Bad” (AMC); 2007–2006: “Dexter” (Showtime)

Matt Barr in “Hatfields & McCoys” as Johnse Hatfield

Tom Berenger in “Hatfields & McCoys” as Jim Vance

Ed Harris in “Game Change” as Senator John McCain

Boyd Holbrook in “Hatfields & McCoys” as William “Cap” Hatfield

Andrew Howard in “Hatfields & McCoys” as “Bad Frank” Phillips

Evan Peters in “American Horror Story” as Tate Langdon

Gillian Anderson in “Great Expectations” [Masterpiece] as Miss Havisham

Jessica Lange in “American Horror Story” as Constance Langdon

Jena Malone in “Hatfields & McCoys” as Nancy McCoy

Sarah Paulson in “Game Change “as Nicolle Wallace

Linsday Pulsipher in “Hatfields & McCoys” as Roseanna McCoy

Mare Winningham in “Hatfields & McCoys” as Sally McCoy

And the ATYP for SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES/MADE FOR TELEVISION FILM goes to . . .

▒ Andrew Howard in “Hatfields & McCoys” as “Bad Frank” Phillips
 

Past winners include:

2011–2010: Tom Wilkinson in “The Kennedys” as Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.; 2010–2009: Joseph Mazzello in “The Pacific” as Pvt. Eugene B. Sledge; 2009–2008: James Ransone in “Generation Kill” as Cpl. Josh Ray Person; 2008–2007: Simon Woods in “Cranford” [Masterpiece Theater] as Dr. Harrison; 2007–2006: August Schellenberg in “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” as Sitting Bull

Comments: Some might not know the name of Welsh character actor Andrew Howard, but after his electric performance as “Bad Frank” Phillips in History Channel’s “Hatfields & McCoys,” that will hopefully change. As a mysterious and unrelenting bounty hunter, “Bad Frank” was an ally in the McCoys’ prolonged battle against the Hatfields, and Howard’s villain never let up in his quest for blood. “Bad Frank” wasn’t the only villain in this epic miniseries. Veteran actor and Primetime Emmy nominee Tom Berenger was just as sinister and deadly here as Jim Vance, Devil Anse Hatfield’s uncle/right hand man and a beginning catalyst in the Hatfield/McCoy struggle. Matt Barr proved that he was more than just a pretty face as Johnse Hatfield, the playboy son of Anse’s and a black sheep of sorts in the Hatfield clan, never truly belonging with the rest of the large brood. In one of the miniseries’ best storylines, Johnse takes up with not one, but two McCoy women (oh the horror!). Versatile young actor Boyd Holbrook (who will make a later appearance in these awards) make his mark as another Hatfield son, William “Cap” Hatfield, the golden child Hatfield son unfortunately blinded in one eye, yet turned into a remarkable marksman and in later life a lawyer. Beyond the standout performances from the “Hatfields & McCoys” men, there was Ed Harris from HBO’s telefilm “Game Change” who delivered an uncanny impersonation of Arizona senator and former Republican presidential candidate John McCain. A last mention for Evan Peters in f[X]’s “American Horror Story” as Tate Langdon, the ever-curious, mass-murdering, and otherworldly son of Constance Langdon. Tate wreaks havoc on the lives of the Harmons in numerous ways, most notably by impregnating the Harmon matriarch with a demon baby as “the Rubber Man” and forever being intertwined with the Harmons’ teenaged daughter.

And the ATYP for SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES/MADE FOR TELEVISION FILM goes to . . .

▒ Jessica Lange in “American Horror Story” as Constance Langdon


Past winners include:

2011–2010: Evan Rachel Wood in “Mildred Pierce” as Veda Pierce; 2010–2009: Brenda Vaccaro in “You Don’t Know Jack” as Margo Janus; 2009–2008: Jessica Lange in “Grey Gardens” as “Big Edie” Bouvier Beale; 2008–2007: Audra McDonald in “A Raisin in the Sun” as Ruth Younger; 2007–2006: Laura Greenwood in “Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act” as Penny Philips

Comments: Sarah Paulson has been such a reliable and grounded actress in many different kinds of television shows over the years (“American Horror Story,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” “Deadwood,” etc.), and she showed that same prowess again in “Game Change” as Nicolle Wallace, the McCain campaign staffer tasked with the insurmountable job of prepping former Alaskan governor and Republican running mate Sarah Palin for high office. Mare Winningham is one of the best character actresses in the business, and in another year and another set of circumstances, I would have readily picked her to win here for her memorable portrayal of Sally McCoy, the long-suffering wife to doomed patriarch Randall McCoy in “Hatfields & McCoys.” Lindsay Pulsipher is probably better known for her recent role on HBO’s “True Blood” as a were-panther on the hunt for a mate to save her dying breed, but she delivered a strong performance in “Hatfields & McCoys” as Roseanna McCoy, Randall’s favored daughter who found herself loving the wrong man and paying the highest cost for that love. It’s hard not to mention the former nominee without including Jena Malone in the same miniseries as Nancy McCoy, the devious McCoy cousin that steals Johnse Hatfield (ATYP* nominee for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Matt Barr) away from Roseanna. Gillian Anderson in her post-“The X-Files” days has become a staple in longform television and has struck gold in another classic Dickens staple as the reclusive spinster Miss Havisham in PBS’s “Great Expectations” [Masterpiece]. But this category pretty much begins and ends with Jessica Lange in f[X]’s “anthology” series “American Horror Story.” I’ve never seen an actress take on a juggling act of a character like Constance Langdon before, and after seeing this, I doubt that anyone could have resonated with this equivocal, secretive, manipulative, haunting, tragic, and masterful Southern belle like Jessica Lange accomplished. I’ll miss Constance terribly next season, as Lange is now set to play a nun running an insane asylum in the 1960s set in the East Coast. There’s no question that we’re in store for something we haven’t experienced before, and for an actress like Lange who I’ve been off and on with professionally, I can’t wait to see where she takes us this time around.

“Desperate Housewives” (ABC)

“Game of Thrones” (HBO) 

“Glee” (Fox)

“Hatfields & McCoys” (History Channel)

“Homeland” (Showtime)

“Mad Men” (AMC)

“Modern Family” (ABC)

“Smash” (NBC)

“Suits” (USA)

“30 Rock” (NBC)  

Past winners include: 

2011–2010: “Mildred Pierce” (HBO); 2010–2009: “Treme” (HBO); 2009–2008: “Entourage” (HBO); 2008–2007: “Lost” (ABC); 2007–2006: “Lost” (ABC)